"Lucy, I'm serious."
The next second, a crowd of people burst out from the other rooms. Confetti cannons went off with a bang, filling the air with streamers as everyone cheered at the top of their lungs.
"Say yes! Say yes!"
For one fleeting moment, I thought I'd been transported back in time, to when Neil had proposed to me.
There had been just as many people then, showering Neil and me with blessings, wishing us forever.
Neil had done the same thing back then, too, declaring his love in front of everyone.
He thanked Lucy for lighting up his world. He thanked Lucy for pulling him out of the abyss.
And he thanked Lucy for saving his child. Our child.
"Rachel was the love of my first half of life. But Lucy, you are the redemption of my entire existence."
"Marry me."
The light refracting off the diamond cut straight into my eyes.
I knew Lucy would say yes.
I knew I should accept.
But in that moment, I couldn't force out a single word.
What woman on earth could hand her husband over to someone else with her own two hands?
I couldn't.
Neil's parents noticed I still hadn't moved. They approached me with reddened eyes, their voices careful and coaxing:
"Lucy, we understand. Any woman would have reservations about a man who's been married before."
"But ever since that woman passed, Neil has been a shell of himself. It wasn't until he met you that he started to seem alive again."
"All any parent wants is for their child to be happy. We just want Neil to move on from the past and truly live."
"Lucy, will you grant us this one wish?"
I stared at my former in-laws, and the air wouldn't come.
Even they had accepted Lucy without a second thought.
Neil's friends crowded around me too, telling me not to worry about his past.
"Neil's the loyal type. Once he falls for someone, he's all in. You never have to worry about him having a change of heart."
I stood rooted to the spot, dazed, the corners of my mouth twitching into something that wasn't quite a smile.
All in.
Never a change of heart.
Then why did he stop loving me?
My fingertips had gone numb with cold.
I knew I had to make a decision.
I held out my hand to Neil and forced the words out with everything I had.
"Yes. I will."
His eyes lit up. He grabbed my hand and slid the ring onto my finger.
It sat heavy on my ring finger.
But somewhere inside me, something had gone hollow. Completely, irreversibly empty.
The crowd around us clapped with tears in their eyes, offering their congratulations.
Kent ran circles around us, beside himself with joy.
"Yay! Mommy and Daddy are together! I have a mommy again!"
Neil pulled me into his arms, laughing and crying at the same time.
"Once you've fully recovered, we'll have the wedding."
"I promise, I'll give you a wedding you'll never forget..."
I stood there like a puppet on strings, the corners of my mouth pulling into a stiff, mechanical curve.
"Okay..."
The word barely left my lips.
Two people burst through the door and shouted at Neil.
"What wedding? We don't consent to this!"
I flinched, snapping back to reality as I stared at them.
Dad... Mom?
Kent ran over and threw his arms around them, beaming.
"Grandma! Grandpa! I'm going to have a mommy again!"
The color drained from my parents' faces, their expressions darkening like a storm rolling in.
"What do you mean, your mommy?"
"The only mother you have in this world is Rachel!"
My mother strode forward and slapped Neil across the face.
"You insisted on dragging Rachel along on that hiking trip. And when the car accident happened, she was the one who shielded you with her own body!"
"She was our only daughter! She wasn't even thirty! And she died for you!"
"What did you promise us at the funeral?"
"You said you'd stay faithful to Rachel for the rest of your life! You said you'd raise Kent right!"
"My daughter hasn't even been gone that long, and you're already looking for a new wife?"
"Then what was my daughter? What did she mean to you?"
"How do you think she'd feel, watching this from wherever she is?"
"Let me make this crystal clear: if you think you're remarrying and giving Kent some stepmother, over my dead body!"
I looked at my parents' weathered faces, the deep lines carved into their skin, the gray streaking through their hair.
The ache in my chest was unbearable.
In this whole world, they were probably the only ones who still cared about how I felt.
Neil kept his head down, silent. The memory of the accident that killed me must have surfaced, because his face was nothing but guilt and helplessness.
His mother and mine went at each other immediately.
"My son is in the prime of his life! He mourned your daughter for years. Why shouldn't he be allowed to move on?"
"Kent needs a mother right now. What's wrong with remarrying? Didn't you see the boy wants a new mom too?"
"Are you people trying to drive my son and my grandson into the ground?"
My mother's face went white with fury, her finger trembling as she pointed at the woman.
The next second, her eyes rolled shut and she collapsed.
My heart lurched. I rushed forward, caught her in my arms, and the word tore out of me before I could stop it:
"Mom!"
In the chaos, no one registered what I'd said.
No one except Neil. His pupils blew wide, and he stared at me like the ground had shifted beneath him.
